Story Behind the Song: Pistol Annies, ‘Hush Hush’

On their sophomore album, 2013's Annie Up, Pistol Annies sing about family dynamics (or, perhaps more accurately, family secrets, and dysfunction) in their song "Hush Hush." The song charted just outside the country Top 40, and is remembered for its colorful clip, which features cameos from Jim Lauderdale and Brenda Lee.

Below, Pistol Annies share the story behind "Hush Hush," in their own words.

Miranda Lambert: If you listen to our music, you know that we're not very good at keeping secrets ...

Ashley Monroe: It is 100 percent true. Everybody has something. There's no family I've met that's perfect, that doesn't have some sort of an issue.

We're saying "hush hush," but what we're really saying is, "Come on, speak up. Let's tell each other what's wrong, okay? A tattoo here down my side, you don't like it? Why don't you like it? Let's talk about that." Then it's over, instead of all the secrets and all the feelings getting hurt.

Lambert: You can't divorce 'em. You only get one family, and you cannot not have your family. So, there's really no option but to get the hell over it.

Angaleena Presley: The quicker we talk about it, the quicker that happens.

Lambert: [Family] can just say one little comment that will push you over the edge. My mother and me, we fight like we're sisters, I swear we do. People get offended. They think I'm a horrible daughter because I talk to her the way I do. But she talks to me that way, and we just get over it. When people think we're in a fight, we're like, "Oh, that wasn't a fight! You should see a fight!" [Laughs]

Presley: But I'm sure that all three of us know how to push all their buttons, too.

Monroe: I remember when I first got a tattoo. My Poppy would talk about how trashy they are, just "trash, trash, trash." I got one on my wrist and he said, "What is that?" He kept trying to rub it off. I had been rubbing my shoulders and I didn't even tell him about this "love me tender" [tattoo] on my shoulder and he said, "What's that?"

But it doesn't matter -- it's my body.

This story was originally written by Stephen L. Betts, and revised by Angela Stefano.

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